The charged particles of the plasma are accelerated and confined using powerful magnets. An electrical discharge is used to create an ionized plasma, separating the nuclei from the electrons. The most promising answer is to use magnetic confinement in a machine called a “tokamak”: a large toroidal or doughnut-shaped chamber.Ī few grams of deuterium and tritium gas are injected into this vacuum chamber. Scientists have asked for decades: since humans cannot reproduce the gravitational force in the core of the sun, how would it be possible for humans to re-create hydrogen fusion on earth? But unlike nuclear fission, in which a heavy element such as uranium is split into two other elements that decay into long-lived, highly radioactive waste, hydrogen fusion occurs, with the highest energy yield, with the collision of two forms (isotopes) of hydrogen – deuterium and tritium – and the products are non-radioactive helium and a powerful neutron that delivers the fusion energy. Hydrogen fusion is not a chemical reaction it is a nuclear reaction, in which – in keeping with Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2 – a tiny amount of matter is converted to a large amount of energy when two hydrogen nuclei fuse. Even fossil fuels are a product of hydrogen fusion: organic matter produced by photosynthesis and compressed over millions of years in the earth’s crust. Solar and wind energy are, in fact, powered by hydrogen fusion – but at a distance of 150 million kilometres, and therefore extremely deconcentrated and intermittent. At the centre of our Sun and the stars, hydrogen is fused using the force of gravitation – at a density more than 70 times the density of steel.įusion is thus the source of all light and heat on earth. Hydrogen fusion is the most abundant form of energy production in the universe. Other factors are also important: the efficiency of the solar panels or steam turbines used to generate electricity, the energy consumed in electrolysis, the energy lost in electricity transmission, the form and amount of energy used to transport hydrogen to it final destination, and the impact of the eventual disposal or recycling of all the parts and components used. Solar panels are frequently manufactured using coal-fired energy, so these carbon emissions must be included in the calculation. For example, if photovoltaic solar panels are used to produce electricity, which in turn is used to produce hydrogen via electrolysis, the “green” aspect of this production cycle must be evaluated further. They also do not go far enough regarding their impact on the climate. This understanding has led to characterizations of hydrogen based on the production method: for example, colour-coded as green hydrogen, grey hydrogen, or pink hydrogen, based on whether it is produced with renewable energy, natural gas, or nuclear fission.
Therefore, to fully account for the environmental effects of hydrogen as a fuel, one must calculate the impacts of the entire hydrogen production and consumption life-cycle. It must first be produced, normally by splitting water molecules using electrolysis, and no longer from fossil fuels as is mostly the case now. The hydrogen burns cleanly, with no release of carbon, making it a clean form of energy at the point of consumption, like electricity.īut like electricity, hydrogen is not a primary fuel. Burning hydrogen in fuel cells or engines is a chemical reaction with oxygen. How does hydrogen fusion differ from the use of hydrogen in fuel cells or hydrogen combustion engines? The differences are considerable, and require explanation.
Even more, we can consider that this technology of hydrogen fusion can produce clean hydrogen to power transport vehicles. I, too, am in favour of a future in which hydrogen plays a major role in clean energy production and consumption – particularly as the fuel for hydrogen fusion power: a safe, environmentally friendly, virtually unlimited, and highly concentrated baseload source of carbon-free energy. They also correctly note that compressed hydrogen gas can be an efficient energy storage mechanism. Advocates envision a future in which hydrogen fuel cells are used to power heavy land, sea, and air transport vehicles and other intensive energy loads, with zero emissions at the end point of hydrogen consumption. The potential benefits of a hydrogen economy have recently become popular points of discussion in the “net-zero” strategies of multiple countries.
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